A quiet week with weekend bread

Another week flown by without much (apparently) happening. Where did it go?

No new discoveries on the fosse septique mystery, i.e., the location of the filter bed is still unknown. Our builder was sick this week, so nothing happened with the windows. Kaye did go to the mairie to verify that we do not need permission to replace one of the windows with a bigger one. The current one is smaller than the opening, so we'll just be removing a bit of fill material. We also exchanged one of the windows that seemed to be too big for it's opening.

This morning we went, cameraless — duh, to the Fête du Pain (Bread Festival) in the village of Cruzeau, where we attended a tango event last July. The village, we learned, was bought by the commune of Lésignac-Durand and renovated to become a very attractive tourist village of gîtes that also serves as a center for cultural activities. This saved the village from destruction and makes quite a bit of money for the commune. The village has two bread ovens, which are no longer regularly used, but are fired up (almost) annually for the Fête du Pain. The interior of the oven is round and domed, about 2.5 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters high. A metal door allows access to the space. The chimney is above the door opening, outside the oven itself. Four local boulangers (bakers) were drafted to bake for the day, bringing along the already mixed dough.

We arrived around noon and watched as the oven was being reheated to bring it back to temperature. Flames from burning wood boiled inside the oven, outside the door, and up towards the chimney. When all the wood was burnt down to coals, it was shoveled out into a wheelbarrow and the floor of the oven swept clean with a damp broom. Flat brioches, topped with butter and powdered sugar, were placed on the oven floor, using a wooden paddle. Then disposable aluminum pans with braided brioches (made by visitors earlier in the day) were added. Then they began loading baguettes, short and fat ones first, followed by long skinny ones. The flat brioches were were removed and set aside to cool as this was happening. Two of the short, fat baguettes would fit on the paddle and were arranged around the outside edge of the oven. The paddle held only a single skinny baguette. The oven was full with over two dozen skinny baguettes and a dozen fat ones, along with two dozen pans of brioche. They shut the door and sealed the bottom with a damp canvas roll. Other holes were plugged with paper towels. Even the bakers were amused at this and took a photo with a disposable camera. It was all very interesting to watch, but we didn't stay around to see the bread come out. We expect the first ones in must have been quite done by the time the last ones were done.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow. We wonder if the builder will show up tomorrow?